The 2009 world champion bounced back from a poor final practice on Saturday morning to secure a fifth-place start on the grid in Sochi and the Briton has said that his change in fortunes came from a revised car set-up.

He told reporters: "With the set-up we'd adopted, the car just wasn't working for us, but, importantly, we kept our heads after that, worked through the issues, and came to qualifying with a much improved car.

"Tomorrow, I really don't know what to expect. Our long runs have been pretty good, but it isn't obvious how many pit-stops most drivers will be making.

"If you lock up here, however, you'll completely flat-spot a tyre, and, if you do that, a one-stopper will become untenable, so as I say it won't be straightforward at all."